Letters : Condom correction

From
Patricia Campbell, Chartex International

London

I was extremely surprised to read the title “Female condom fails to stop HIV”
(This Week, 12 April, p 7). On further reading it became clear that you had used
the term “female condom” as a misnomer for the chemical Nonoxynol-9, commonly
used as a spermicide.

As medical director of Chartex International, which manufactures and supplies
the female condom, I wish to make it clear that the female condom has indeed
been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a method which “helps to
prevent pregnancy and sexually transmissible diseases including HIV”.